Experts are calling for the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to be elevated into a leading economic powerhouse, capable of competing on the regional and global stage.
At the workshop "Promoting the SCIC Model Towards Professional Capital Management, Forming a Government Investment Fund" on December 3, experts agreed that it is time to elevate the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to become a true "leader" of the economy, reaching regional and global levels as expected by the government and the people.
Over nearly two decades of formation and development (2006 – 2025), SCIC has proven the soundness of the policy of separating state management functions from enterprise governance functions.
However, Deputy Minister of Finance Cao Anh Tuan candidly acknowledged that the results achieved are still not commensurate with the potential and position that SCIC aims for.
Legal and regulatory barriers have prevented SCIC from fully unleashing its financial "iron fist" strength, he told the workshop "Promoting the SCIC Model towards Professional Capital Management, Forming a Government Investment Fund" on December 3.
In the context of Vietnam aiming to become a developed, high-income country by 2045, SCIC's role cannot stop at receiving and divesting small enterprises. Therefore, SCIC's development direction in the coming time is to transform into a Government Investment Fund (GIF).
"SCIC needs to operate as a professional financial investor rather than an administrative agency," added the deputy minister.
Deputy General Director of SCIC, Dinh Viet Tung, suggested that the Temasek Government Investment Fund model of Singapore is suitable for Vietnam.
Regarding resources, to become a true Government Investment Fund, SCIC needs to accumulate sufficient resources.
Regarding the financial mechanism, Mr. Tung proposed a mechanism to be granted higher autonomy. Instead of submitting all profits to the State budget, SCIC is allowed to retain post-tax profits to supplement the investment development fund and increase charter capital.
In the coming time, SCIC will focus resources on key industries and fields such as technology, innovation, and digital transformation.
Notably, a new direction proposed by SCIC is to directly invest abroad, conduct international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to access new technology and enhance national competitiveness.
Therefore, a roadmap consisting of two phases has been outlined by SCIC.
Phase 1 (2026 – 2027) serves as the momentum-building and pilot phase. SCIC will continue the transfer and equitization as planned, but the focus will shift toward capital investment.
In phase 2 (2027 – 2030), SCIC will officially transition to full operation under the Government Investment Fund model.
According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, Chairman of the SCIC Members' Council, this proposed model only works effectively when SCIC is granted sufficient authority and autonomy in investment and divestment decisions, avoiding administrative interference in business activities.
This change, according to Mr. Thanh, requires great consensus and determination to reform the institutional framework from the Government and ministries.
Google translate